Directed by D. Kimbrough Oller, Ph.D., and co-directed by Linda Jarmulowicz, Ph.D., this laboratory conducts research on acquisition of language and literacy in bilingual
children with specific focus on Spanish and English. The Spanish-speaking population
is experiencing rapid growth in the Memphis area, resulting in many non-English speaking
children entering school. The current line of research is funded by National Institutes
of Child Health and Human Development and extends previous efforts by Oller. The focus
is on the confluence of literacy and language skills that immigrant elementary school
children must master. Phonological research is extensive within the laboratory, but
vocabulary knowledge and a variety of other foundations for reading play a role in
the research agenda. Both implicit phonological skills and explicit phonological awareness
skills are measured and tracked in early elementary school. In addition, participating
children are involved in a pre-literacy training program for 12 weeks during the school
year. Dr. Buder also plays a significant role in the laboratory’s function.

Directed by D. Kimbrough Oller, Ph.D. and Eugene Buder, Ph.D., this laboratory is dedicated to research in infant vocal development and young child
phonology. The laboratory continues a line of work that the primary director, Oller,
has pursued for over 30 years under funding from the National Institutes of Deafness
and other Communication Disorders (the current primary funding agency for the laboratory),
the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institutes
of Mental Health, as well as a variety of private sources including, currently, the
Plough Foundation. The laboratory is co-directed by Dr. Buder and is also utilized
by Dr. Linda Jarmulowicz.

Directed by Linda D. Jarmulowicz, Ph.D., this laboratory explores typical and atypical language development in preschool
and school-aged children. The laboratory is located in the Speech and Hearing Annex.
Current areas of study include lexical and phonological development and the relationship
between oral language and literacy. Of particular interest is the intersection of
derivational morphology with lexical, phonological, prosodic, and literacy factors.

The social interaction laboratory, directed by Eugene H. Buder, Ph.D, is a specialized facility designed to support this focus area by acquiring video,
audio, and physiological data from two persons engaged in conversation. The facility
can be used for a variety of purposes, and has supported research in conversational
management by persons with aphasia and persons who stutter, as well as collaborations
in the areas of social psychology and discourse analysis. Buder’s particular interest
is in understanding how the dynamics of rhythmic and melodic aspects of speech behaviors
support communicative coordination.